Well-to-do Blacks (John Speaking)
						MAIN PATH: Vera
					Vera	Malik

Wait, Malik. What you say about property seems correct; but is it really the same with racial discrimination and other historic harms done to blacks? When we start talking about children who have been indirectly harmed by injustices directed at their parents and grandparents, it becomes very hard to say who is still suffering the effects of the injustice. But we need some way to decide or else we have no rationale for any compensation. With indirect harm, the only measures we have are very rough indices like family income. But that means that at some level of success, we have to say that the black family is no longer suffering harm.

And you have to remember this: Not all harms can be compensated. Perhaps there are psychological harms that even an upper middle class black person suffers. But can we compensate for those things? A well-off black man may not be able to get a cab at 10:00 o'clock at night. But affirmative action can't do much about that. It's a different kind of problem.

I think the middle class black family is going to make it. But what about poorer blacks, the so-called 'underclass' in our cities? Maybe we should concentrate our compensation programs on them?

Again, if income is an index of harm, haven't they been harmed the most?

Ariadne Home	Affirmative Action Bibliography	Affirmative Action Home